VDA Technical Congress 2022: The Future of Urban Mobility

At the 22nd Technical Congress of the VDA in Berlin, Dr. Tobias Miethaner, head of the Digital Society department at the BMDV, opened the session on automation and mobility as well as transport as a service. Miethaner expressed his hope that there would be an end to the traffic jams in Munich and Stuttgart, where people waste up to 60 hours a year. He is hopeful, among other things, because there are so many new approaches in ride-pooling and logistics, increasingly autonomously, and no longer only on very short routes with very small "vessel sizes," as public transport modes are often called. An autonomous connection from Munich Airport to the city is now planned, which Miethaner did not quite expect at the beginning. The fact that it takes a lot of effort is noticeable in the regulatory process, as it takes some time since there is no blueprint for autonomous traffic:

"We are starting with many detailed questions on a greenfield site"

It is certainly important to think internationally. Miethaner also has no problem if regulations that will come into effect in 2022 are then replaced by international law. What is important is that Germany moves quickly enough here and creates the basic framework – as this also sets the guidelines. The use of data is inextricably linked to autonomous and CO2-reduced traffic.

"Only in this way can mobility offers be made and potentials be realized," warns Miethaner.

It is also important to strengthen the availability of state data: weather data is a major issue for many applications, some of which are available for free. In addition, new platforms need to be created, but private providers should also be obliged to provide data – also free of charge. The third pillar is the private data trade: a Mobility Dataspace, which according to Miethaner is a kind of "department store for data," which then also becomes interesting in interaction with public transport.

Autonomous driving becomes concrete

How autonomous driving in public spaces could look was demonstrated by Dr. Frank Keck, managing director of ZF Mobility Solutions GmbH, with the ATS (Autonomous Transport System) from ZF. Initially developed as an airport shuttle, the system is now ready for public roads, first on segregated lanes as a "Segregated Lane Application." The ATS can already be used today and is technically feasible in terms of safety. The next step would be to integrate it into mixed traffic – initially on separate lanes, to eventually merge with normal traffic lanes.

Disused railway lines could serve autonomous pods

This could also improve connections in rural areas. According to Keck, disused railway tracks could be reactivated and used cost-effectively. There are already many applications today. The Dutch company has over 25 years of experience: resulting in 99.7 percent system availability over more than 100 million kilometers, with which over 14 million people have been transported (not only at airports). For the future, ZF plans to operate the vehicle without a safety steward at a minimum speed of 40 km/h in urban areas, along with a service network.

Residential area in Rotterdam served autonomously

There are also two real-world laboratories for this: one opening up a new residential area in Rotterdam and another operating overland in Friedrichshafen. According to Keck, there is an increasing expectation for end-user applications on campuses, hospital grounds, or large company premises. Rivium Rotterdam plans to integrate the pods into mixed traffic in the next 2-3 years. Keck concluded with the words:

"Public transport and individual transport are definitely facing profound changes – we see autonomous shuttles not as competition, but as a complement to public transport to create new routes and connections."

He was followed by Christoph Ziegenmeyer, Head of Communications at VW's subsidiary MOIA. He confirmed that a future scenario with fewer cars offers many opportunities and many cities and municipalities are thinking in this direction. Therefore, they always work with cities. Like ZF, MOIA wants to be seen as a complement to public transport. An "iconic design" is helpful in this, which in this case was designed by VW Commercial Vehicles:

"Children call our vehicles the bumblebee – with the gold-black coloring and massive build," reports Ziegenmeyer.

To reduce private car use, Hamburg needs thousands of shuttles

But Ziegenmeyer explains that although they developed the vehicle, they are essentially a software company. There are apps for customers and drivers, and behind it lies the core of MOIA, the algorithm that brings it all together. Every route can change in fractions of a second when a new request comes in. Otherwise, they are not so far removed from the familiar public transport: they need a depot with loading and service facilities, fleet management, and a pool of drivers. Currently, they are experimenting with 250 vehicles in Hamburg and running simulations to determine when individual traffic noticeably decreases. With sobering results, as Ziegenmeyer admits:

"What the city fathers want, namely a traffic turnaround with significantly less motorized individual traffic, only works with many thousands of vehicles!"

Specifically, Hamburg needs 5,000 MOIA vehicles. It is still interesting to see how this system works and promotes the transition: recently, MOIA's modal share rose by three percent, while overall public transport grew by five percent, resulting in an eight percent reduction in individual traffic! And they are cost-effective: at 0.41 euros, the kilometer costs less than half of what customers would have to pay per kilometer. The driver still remains the highest cost factor, aside from the fact that they can barely find enough drivers for the 250 units, as Ziegenmeyer reports. If 5,000 vehicles were to be operated in two and a half shifts, many more drivers would be needed.

Second goal: connect surrounding areas

According to Ziegenmeyer, autonomous driving is also important for other use cases, to connect rural areas and the areas adjacent to the city, or even just to send a vehicle out for two hours. He concludes:

"Autonomous driving is essential for ride pooling!"

The new AF law currently provides the framework for ride pooling. Its further development is now necessary as it opens up new opportunities for the industry, concluded the summary.

Digital Freight Forwarding: Faster Shipments

Dr. Gregor Stock followed, CEO and founder of Cito Transport Technologies GmbH, also a VW subsidiary, which transfers the topic of digitalization to last-mile delivery. They primarily focus on time-critical transports here. Incidentally, the company was only founded in the fall of 2021. Currently, they employ twelve people but are growing rapidly. The big mission for Stock & Co:

“We want to reshape the transport market.”

According to Stock, it follows outdated principles, which he illustrates with the example of a spare parts order: Through email or phone, there is both a loss of efficiency and a lack of price and quality transparency, especially since the transporter market is extremely fragmented: You contact Company A, but they don't actually carry out the transport themselves; instead, they pass it on to Company B, which then passes it on to C or even D, and ultimately you have no idea who is actually performing the transport. The transport partner itself is very far down the value chain, as Stock knows:

“Much gets stuck in intermediary processes where no real value is added, if we are being honest.”

That's why they have created a free platform for customers and executing transport partners, with three principles: simplicity, transparency, and fairness. It is only sustainable if everyone benefits from it.

Stock then switches live to the user interfaces: They show the view for customers and transport partners. Everyone has an immediate overview: from routing to takeover. The customer immediately gets in touch with the transport partner. With Track and Trace, the delivery works like a handover and there are documents for both sides to simplify accounting. Here, too, Stock addresses the shortage of skilled workers: “We don't have that many transport partners anymore.”

Important: The Amendment of the Passenger Transportation Act

At the end of the session, Dr.-Ing. Dipl.-Kfm. Till Ackermann, Head of Economics and Business Development at VDV (Association of German Transport Companies), directed the focus back to the bigger picture. He was pleased to be the only speaker from public transport at the technical congress. The amendment of the PBFG envisions two forms: The (known) demand line service must take everyone. However, the new bundled demand service, also (partially) autonomous, is exciting. Ackermann believes:

“We are very satisfied with this, especially with autonomous driving between Level 4 and 5, essentially autonomous driving, ranging from strictly confined spaces to freely flowing public traffic, which exactly matches the public transport service areas. This is exactly what we need!”

From April 8, 2022, it could be implemented, including automation. The vision is similar to MOIA, but a hierarchical network is still maintained: shared, electric, and autonomous, also spatially separated. From the rapid transit to the autonomous shuttle. The Mobility inside platform helps with this. Afterwards, Ackermann shows a map with many pink spots, indicating: Public transport hardly takes place here anymore. Especially in eastern Bavaria, Saxony, Saarland, and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Ackermann comments:

“Having to own a car is not the future we should aim for.”

They also want to retain people in rural areas. However, this would require a 60 percent increase in the offering with on-demand transports, which despite all progress, are very expensive. Problems lie not only in technology costs but also in elaborate approval processes and high supervision ratios. Only when all this could be reduced by half perspecitvely, according to Ackermann, would they see "land" - and of course, profitable business models.

Hamburg: Reducing Individual Traffic to 20 Percent by 2030

Dr. Tina Wagner, Head of Transport Development at the Hamburg Transport Authority, provided a specific look at Hamburg at the end. The Hanseatic city also struggles with environmental and climate protection, population growth, space scarcity, and climate protection. 25 percent of CO2 emissions in Hamburg are caused by traffic. This needs to be significantly reduced and can only be achieved with a real mobility transition, Wagner said. By 2030, 80 percent of journeys in Hamburg should be made using the environmental alliance (on foot, by bike, or public transport), and 20 percent with motorized individual transport.

To achieve this, public transport must be massively expanded. The plan: Within a 5-minute walking distance, a public transport service operating every 5 minutes should be available. This, of course, requires on-demand transport and a city of short distances. Wagner stated that this is more difficult in the outskirts and suburban areas. Nevertheless, electrification, digitalization, and ITS strategy are important.

She sees ridepooling as an offer between individual and public transport, aiming to close spatial and temporal gaps. The platform issue is important: With the HVV-Switch-App, everything can be booked: bus tickets, Moia, scooters, etc. They are currently "very happy" with MOIA and very excited about future developments. Autonomous transport is not easy and will likely be "bumpy" at first when integrating into regular traffic. The goal is to "achieve regular operation soon, especially for the first and last mile."

What Does this Mean?

The session “Mobility and Transport as a Service - Autonomous Driving as a Means for New Business Models?” was one of the most interesting and informative, aligning legislation with the current situation and prospects from both providers' and communities' perspectives.